How small is a transistor? [🎞️ nanonerds_sliet]

It ain’t that small tho

The first non-solid state "transistor", the triode Audion vacuum tube of 1908.

Wrong, I can see it right here inside my beloved CDV700

It depends upon the type of transistor. Some are pretty big.

The smallest working transistor gate ever built is 0.34 nm — one carbon atom thick. A human hair is roughly 200,000x wider. We are now engineering switches at the scale where "smaller" stops being an engineering problem and becomes a quantum one.

Now i need the "how big is a banana?" video

even when you see it...almost unimaginable

One human hair stretches wider than 10000 modern transistors lined up next to each other. That turns your average scalp into a massive landscape for the microscopic city of silicon powering your phone.

Transistors are available in a great many sizes. With the advancement of nanotechnology in recent years they can be that small but generally the transistors used in consumer electronics are much larger. The image shows the various sizes & types I have used in electronics work.

oh wow! How does it feel touching it, although it is literally a physical device?

Who made the 3d renderings of this

❗❗ W O W ❗ ❗

Como os humanos fizeram algo tão pequeno?

WTH that small???

So definitely smaller than a banana then

That is a lie. Put in this presentations the real dimensions of the transistor you are showing.

Who built it

As always the banana is very important for understanding scale.

They switch much faster than I’ve ever second, try billions of times a second.

comi faz issoo

This shows how easy it is to start printing our foreheads w 666. “It” won’t be long now. Repent!!! 🙏

Only Atom Left..

The Retractable Emergency Fire Escape is a compact, instant deployment solution for high-rise

tiny like my waist, but i can still handle you 😉

Wow, so great.

I asked Grok - How many atoms are in the smallest transistor? Thought for 5s The number of atoms in the "smallest transistor" depends on the context: lab prototypes versus commercial/production devices. There isn't a single answer, as transistors vary in design (e.g., gate, channel, full structure), materials (silicon, 2D like graphene/MoS₂), and whether they are functional switches or research demos. Lab/Research Prototypes (Smallest Possible) Single-atom transistors: Functional devices exist where a single atom (e.g., phosphorus in silicon or silver) acts as the core switching element. These were demonstrated as early as 2002–2012 (e.g., by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and UNSW). They operate at very low temperatures in many cases and serve as proofs-of-concept or for quantum computing +1 Other demos: ~7 atoms (2010 quantum dot), 14 atoms (0.5 nm molecular-style transistor), or a few dozen in early atomic-precision +1 Record gate lengths: As small as ~0.34 nm (thickness of one carbon atom in graphene-based side-wall designs from Chinese researchers in 2022). These approach the physical limit for a functional gate.

skin cells are surprisingly large

DNA is waaaaay more dense

Banana for scale 😙

theyre tiny, like a few nanometers wide, crazy how much power they pack

okay but how small is a banana

And now you know why you can't just make your own RAM.

🤯

They’re printed/etched using light, not assembled bottom up.